PLUS

Genesis 16:1-3 “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.”

Genesis 16:15 “And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.”

This is the third in an eight-part series originating from our new book: In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration:

Abram and Sarai had been promised a child that would carry on an unmatched familial legacy. Yet as they aged, they were concerned that the odds of procreation were growing dim. Thus, they devised a trustless and faithless work-around described in the verses above.

How did it work out for them? They had a child, but it was not part of God’s plan. And their “life hack” has severe ramifications for us today.

As a part of current portfolio, I speak frequently on national security and international affairs topics. I also am a regular commentator on NewsNation and Fox News. And if you looked at the hundreds of interviews I’ve done during the last few years (or the 61 in the last three weeks), you would see a common trend – the majority of them are related to on-going chaos in the Middle East. Most of my media engagements center on nations like Iran and Israel, and groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. And the chaos has a singular root cause – Abram’s and Sarai’s decision to diverge from God’s plan via their own seemingly brilliant work-around.

It didn’t work out well for them and it isn’t working out well for us. It is a great reminder that we are to trust in God even when we think we have a reasonable work-around.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD TRUST GOD EVEN WHEN WE THINK WE HAVE A REASONABLE WORK AROUND.

ADMIN: This PLUS post comes from my new book, In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration, written alongside Pastor Brad Wells. You can find it on Amazon here:

Book Link

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”

This is the second in an eight-part series originating from our new book: In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration:

“There is an important truth to consider whenever we are tempted to doubt God – who are we to believe that our perspective is sufficient to trump God’s truths? After all, even the most globally capable among us only benefit from a myopic view of our circumstances. We are stunningly finite while God is supremely infinite. His omniscience, His omnipresence, and His omnipotence make our pride-filled cosmopolitan strivings simply sophomoric. Whenever you are tempted to trust yourself when circumstances seem to supersede your trust in God, fall back on the following:

• “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
• “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

His ways are always higher than our ways and we must never rest on our own understanding! As a result, we are trust in Him even when it doesn’t make any sense.”

Interestingly, just before I assembled this post, I read a small section of a book about luck and timing. While the statistics were interesting, the worldview was depressingly secular. From such a perspective, there was no trust, no hope, no faith, and no belief. The randomness of such stochastic processes offered no meaning and no purpose, especially when results diverge from the cold logic of mathematical probability. Reading those thoughts punctuated the power provided by trusting in God even when the results seem to be going askew.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TRUST IN GOD EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE. Always remember that our perspectives are finite, and His is infinite.

ADMIN: This PLUS post comes from my new book, In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration, written alongside Pastor Brad Wells. You can find it on Amazon here:

Book Link

Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you”

The next eight-part series provides excerpts from our new book: In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration. The rubber meets the road when we make the concept of trusting in God practical and tangible, giving traction to trust. Beware though, these ideas buck the trends of societal norms and standard practices as we engrave them into our lives.

“In August of 2018 I had just pinned a single star onto each of the shoulders of my uniform. I was now a brigadier general and had just started a new leadership job as the commander of Edwards Air Force Base – a place known as the Center of the Aerospace Testing Universe. During my first full week on the job, a very public attack questioned my character and threatened my future.

An organization that pounces on Christians in the military had their sights set on me. They must have been tracking me all along, and as soon as I became a more public target as a one-star general they launched their attack that included a 22-page letter to the Secretary of Defense suggesting that I should be fired and imprisoned. They pushed articles to the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek that further supported their claims. One of their slogans was: “General Teichert should be doing time behind prison bars, not commanding a Wing wearing a general’s stars.” I have to admit it’s a bit catchy, but not exactly what I was hoping for during week one on the job.

What was my crime? It must have been something egregious for such an attack. In reality, it was rooted in a ministry I had launched five years prior that simply encouraged Christians to pray for our nation and our leaders at lunchtime (PLUS, or prayatlunch.us). How dare I do such a thing?!?!

As I was settling into my new position, it was a bit of shock and awe. After all, I was new in my job and trying to establish my credibility as a servant leader with a focus on our amazing team and our critical mission. That evening, I went home and we had a family conversation about this precarious situation. We prayed about it. And while my flesh wanted to lash out at my attacker, God brought a counter-cultural verse to my mind and my heart – Matthew 5:44.

There may be nothing that runs more counter to the ways of the world than these words from our Saviour! I’ve done my best to put them into practice ever since then. In fact, I go out of my way to pray daily for the leader of the organization that attacked me. I did so earlier today before I typed this section.

How did it work out? First, God gave me a peace about the situation almost immediately. Second, God used the situation to bring national-level attention to my ministry in a way that only He could. That organization had meant it for evil, but God had meant it for good (Genesis 50:20), and the number of viewers to my website in one week eclipsed the previous five years combined. Third, I felt the prayerful love and encouragement of believers around the world who reached out in support. I even enjoyed the superb wingmanship of media personalities, like my friend Todd Starnes at Fox News, who quickly engaged on my behalf. Fourth, the Department of Defense quickly investigated me, determined that I had done nothing wrong, and told me that I could continue with my ministry. Praise God!

There is a bit more to the story. In early 2021, the presidential administration transitioned to one that was hostile to Christians and conservatives in the military. While my career was skyrocketing up to that point and while I had done nothing that had broken any rules, regulations, laws, or policies, the new administration was intent on weeding out faith-filled leaders like me. It was an ideological purge that didn’t make the newspapers because big media was aligned with the administration. As a result, while serving in a position that was already designated for a 2-star general, instead of being promoted I was asked to retire.

It still stings a little bit, but I’m excited to see how God will continue to use that situation for His good. In the meanwhile, I will strive to trust in God even when it is against my flesh or the norms of our prevailing culture.”

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TRUST IN GOD EVEN WHEN IT IS AGAINST OUR FLESH OR THE NORMS OF OUR PREVAILING CULTURE.

ADMIN: This PLUS post comes from my new book, In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration, written alongside Pastor Brad Wells. You can find it on Amazon here:

Book Link

Psalm 56:11 “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”

Psalm 115:9-11 “O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.”

Psalm 37:39-40 “But the salvation of the righteous if of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them; he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration is available at the link below. I am honored to have created it alongside my pastor and friend, Brad Wells. Thanks for checking it out, and rating, reviewing, and sharing to your network! If you are interested in bulk discounts and specials, please reach out directly.

LINK

To give you a bit of a taste of the content, the following comes from the Introduction:

Our national motto was relevant in 1776, 1814, 1865, and it’s still relevant today!

In God We Trust!

This is a book about the United States of America that follows the unbroken national lineage of that motto. But it doesn’t stop there! It’s also a spiritual journey designed to make the motto personal.

In God I Trust!

It provides the pathway to transform the understanding of our national motto into our personal declaration. It carefully illuminates the pathway of national dependency and personal reliance. It’s not just academic history. It’s individual hierarchy. And God must be at the top!

I am honored to be joined in bringing this concept to life by my Pastor. His portions are intentionally and powerfully pastoral, and he astutely guides the reader toward the applicability of the history that I prioritize in my portions.

We start with a section that describes the related words that are essential elements of the journey – faith, belief, and trust. The next section describes the trust in God that is inseparably grafted into our founding, followed by one that briefly highlights the consistent application of national trust that has flowed from the headwaters of our history. The fourth section transitions the message to the personal level, providing practical actions to turn national history into personal destiny. No work of this type would be complete without a section on the triggering topics of our age, including separation of church and state and Christian nationalism, tackled in our final section. We acknowledge the diverse religious traditions of our Founders, but are also firmly convinced that Christianity and Biblical literacy played an oversized role in the culture in which they lived. In the conclusion, we each punctuate our claims one last time.

In God I Trust is woven together to celebrate our nation’s250th birthday while highlighting the threads that lead towards national and personal revival.

Each chapter is written by one of us, as noted at the beginning of each, so that the reader will know the perspective of the words contained therein. But the message is consistent throughout … In God We Trust … In God I Trust.

It’s long past time to make our national motto our personal declaration!

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD EACH MAKE THE NATIONAL MOTTO OUR PERSONAL DECLARATION. In God We Trust … In God I Trust!

Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam tells an interesting story about our focus areas in his book Faithful Presence. It centers around a business development trip he made to Hangzhou, China during his tenure as governor to recruit business to Tennessee.

He describes how governors are treated as VIPs when they travel within the United States, but experience little to no fanfare when they travel internationally. In light of his previous experience, he was caught off guard when he landed in Hangzhou. Stepping off the airplane, Governor Haslam was greeted with a band, military fanfare, and gifts before being whisked away in a fancy limousine.

On the ride to his first meeting, he asked the host of the greeting delegation about the ceremonial arrival. The reply: “Do you really want to know?” After insisting that he wanted to understand the pomp and circumstance he just experienced, the host reluctantly shared an important truth: “It’s not about you. Hangzhou is hosting world leaders for the G20 Summit in a month, and we were practicing.”

Governor Haslam and his wife had been used as a training aid – a prop. It wasn’t about them!

Guess what Christians?! It isn’t about me and it isn’t about you. While God loves us and sent His Son to die as a sacrificial atonement for our sins, we must get our eyes off of ourselves.

We are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. We are to get our minds away from focusing inward and instead shift our attention outward and upward. We are to think on things that are true, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, praise-worthy, and of a good report. We are to guard against ever thinking that it is all about us.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD SEEK TO HONOR, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP GOD AS OUR ABSOLUTE AND UNQUESTIONED PRIORITY. Who is it all about? It’s not about us, and it must always be about Him.